49ers coach Harbaugh glad to work with players

NFL LOCKOUT

David White, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, April 28, 2011

(04-28) 23:38 PDT -- The Class of 2011 can get to work first thing this morning, after all.

NFL officials and ownership yielded Thursday to a federal judge's order to end their 45-day lockout, allowing players to have contact with coaches, get playbooks and report for voluntary workouts this morning.

The league is appealing the ruling, but agreed to begin the new league year four days after U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson said the lockout was illegal and declared it null and void Monday in Minneapolis.

"Big relief," said 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, who has not been allowed to work with his players during his three months on the job. "Glad we get to work with some of our guys, get some people in this building and get some football going.

"We're letting them know the building is open and they can come on in."

The question remains for how long?

The NFL is seeking an immediate stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, hoping the Missouri court - which is considered friendlier toward business than the one in Minneapolis - will overturn Nelson's ruling and restore the league's lockout.

The players were told to respond to the league's motion for a stay by midday today, and the NFL's reply to that is due Monday morning.

The ruling could take months. In the meantime, the NFL and players do not have a collective bargaining agreement, so they will work under the rules of the CBA that expired March 11.

The NFL has instructed teams to open their facilities to players and begin to schedule offseason training and minicamps. A timetable to begin trades and free-agent signings has yet to been announced, and will likely wait until the NFL draft concludes Saturday.

New 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said the team has been ready for free agency to begin for weeks, knowing the courts could open the market on little or no notice.

"We're prepared and we have been because of the needs we have," Baalke said. "We're prepared if it happens tomorrow, next week or next month."

Perhaps no team benefits from the end of the lockout quite like the 49ers, who have been crippled by the work stoppage. They have a new coaching staff that does not know the players, players who do not know the new offensive and defensive schemes, and an offense without a starting quarterback in place.

As of today, Harbaugh can give players their new playbooks to study this weekend as they begin to implement his schemes.

All offseason work is voluntary, save the one mandatory minicamp, so Harbaugh is not sure how many players will report for work.

He does, however, expect former starting quarterback Alex Smith to show up. He spoke with the unrestricted free agent Thursday and said he's coming to the team facility today - a team's own free agents are allowed to work out if they sign a waiver.

"I'm hopeful we'll get some guys back in the building and get some football players around the coaches," Harbaugh said.

Expect Harbaugh to cram as much information into his players as he can, because the lockout could soon be back in effect - coach-player restrictions and all - if the appeals court grants a stay in the coming days. A lockout could very well drag for months, even as both sides continue court-mandated negotiations May 16.

Also pending is a fight over $4 billion in broadcast revenue. U.S. District Judge David Doty ruled in March that the owners failed to maximize revenue for both sides when it renegotiated TV and online deals.

Players, who allege the owners set aside that money as a "war chest" to keep them afloat during the lockout, asked Thursday for millions in damages beyond the $6.9 million recommended by a special master. Doty has scheduled a hearing May 12.

"I think the litigation, unfortunately, could go on for some period of time," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

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